User blog:BeastMan14/Historical Review: "Kill Bill, Vol. 1" Is A Stylized and Entertaining Return to Form For Tarantino
A lot of filmmakers talk about their love of movies, and many have done films intended to be tributes to that love. But has any director, in their quest to declare their undying passion for cinema and the media that inspired them, made something as entertaining, beautifully shot, and stylish as Kill Bill? An extended homage to the revenge thrillers of the 70’s, Kill Bill Vol. 1 blends anime, crime tv shows, and the kung-fu movies of Tarantino’s childhood to create a masterpiece of action cinema. Tarantino’s famed technique of non-linear storytelling works best here, as he opens Kill Bill with a black and white flashback of the Bride (played in the performance of a lifetime by Uma Thurman) being tended to by the mysterious “Bill”, whose face is never shown on camera but his presence looms over the entire film like a specter, his name written on napkins and windows but never said, his reputation spoken of in hushed whispers, before he coldly shoots her in the head. The movie then cuts forward several years, with the Bride arriving at the home of Vernita Green, one of the “Deadly Vipers”, the assassins that attacked her wedding and killed everyone save her, and engaging her in a deadly knife fight that ends in the Bride killing Vernita before crossing her name off of her kill list. Notably, Vernita is the second target. The decision to kick the plot off with a bang establishes the Bride’s motivations and skills, and makes the ensuing flashbacks to the Bride’s time in a coma and recovery more powerful. The Bride waking in a hospital bed and tearful reaction to the apparent miscarriage of her daughter, on top of not even being able to use her legs due to entropy, wouldn’t hit as hard if we hadn’t just seen her as a terrifying, stone-cold killer. The non-linear storytelling enables Tarantino to skip the usual excess of these films and play around with the characters. O-Ren Ishii, the film’s effective antagonist, is the first on the Bride’s list but it’s clear she’s easily the biggest threat, and the Bride’s training montage under legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzo (played wonderfully by Sonny Chiba, cast in a clear shout-out to the kung-fu films that played a huge role in inspiring this film) is shown entirely off-screen. From a filmmaker usually known for his long runtimes, Kill Bill effectively cuts the fat to make every scene feel important and earned. The film’s runtime clocks in at around 1 hour and 45 minutes, and it never feels too short or overstays its welcome. Even with a shorter runtime, Tarantino manages to play with and subvert the tropes traditional for this genre through his usual strong character work, namely by developing the usually one-dimensional baddies of this genre into likable, tragic characters. The brutal fight between the Bride and Vernita is interrupted by Vernita’s daughter, with Vernita calmly sending her to her room before stopping to make her a snack establishing her as a loving mother trying to protect her daughter from her violent past, which makes the Bride killing her and then turning to see that the young girl witnessed it play into the series’s tragic message about the endless cycle of violence and revenge. O-Ren is given a beautifully done anime sequence explaining her tragic past, making her a tragic figure and sympathetic foe, which is helped by Lucy Liu, who plays the character with an affable, intimidating energy. Even the Bride, a character that would have little personality outside of her traumatic incident, is made into a more sympathetic character when we see the tragic, fragile version of her after her coma. Ironically, the dialogue is the weakest aspect of Tarantino’s script, coming off as clunky in a deliberate reference to the way characters speak in old-school action films, but it’s hard to slight it when it never drags the film down in a way truly bad dialogue can. Kill Bill may be the first time Tarantino’s work as a director outpaces his work as a writer, and it’s a notable step-up in terms of the production design from his previous movies. The action scenes, for a director whose never done action sequences before, are stunning. The violence is cartoonish, with firehose sprays of blood from decapitations, limbs flying off like nothing, and intestines spilling out, but it still feels real enough to be invested in, which is helped by the editing and the unconventional score from RZA, who blends styles of hip-hop, westerns, and the music of Japanese cinema to create music that stands out and matches the aesthetic of the film. And what an aesthetic it is. The world of Kill Bill is beautifully designed, with gorgeous cinematography from Robert Richardson making everything pop, while the costumes and set design evoke crime thrillers and kung fu films. (In perhaps the film’s best reference, the Bride’s outfit for the film’s second half is identical to Bruce Lee’s in Game of Death, a great example of one of the film’s references that overshadowed what it was referencing.) Tarantino’s mastery as a director is clear in his ability to understand how to prevent the film from becoming excessive, which it very easily could have. Much of the film’s most brutal violence, such as the Bride biting off the lips off of a rapist or her killing blow against O-Ren, is shown off-screen, and the cartoonishness vanishes when the Bride fights Vernita and O-Ren, with the final fight against O-Ren playing out like a slow-paced duel. The greatest sign of Tarantino’s self-control is his decision to cut the film into separate movies, turning what could have been a four-hour slog into a classic two-parter. By cutting the film down, he’s able to withhold information, making the central mystery of why Bill shot the Bride more compelling, and end the film on an all-time cliffhanger with just one line: “Does she know... her daughter's still alive?" Kill Bill is a film that shouldn’t work, becoming something that collapses under it’s self-referential weigh or is all style and no substance. Instead, it’s a rollicking good time that leaves you on the edge of your seat and sticks with you long after the credits roll. Overall Score: 100% Hypothetical Ballot Spots: *Best Picture *Best Director: Quentin Tarantino *Best Actress: Uma Thurman *Best Supporting Actress: Lucy Liu *Best Male Limited Performance: Sonny Chiba *Best Original Screenplay *Best Film Editing *Best Cinematography *Best Original Score *Best Production Design Category:Blog posts Category:Reviews Category:Historical Reviews